Tools for Overcoming the Crisis Phenomena of the Pandemic in the Socio-economic Development of the Countries

The purpose of the study is to identify the specifics of the socio-economic development of the countries during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to determine effective tools for overcoming the crisis phenomena in the economy. The study of the growth rate of gross domestic product calculated by the expenditure method and the number of cases of coronavirus diseases were the grounds for sampling countries for the following analysis. The analysis of socio-economic indicators and identification of the development's specifics during the pandemic is carried out on the example of the United States, France, Great Britain, Spain, Italy, and Germany. Based on the analysis, the authors concluded that the least effective implementation of anti-COVID measures is in Italy and Spain, as a result of the lack of effective programs to support lending to the real sector, state support for companies in terms of maintaining employment, and making investments to support business. The German public administration system effectively used a package of anti-crisis measures based on the balance of increasing budget and extra-budgetary infusions into the economy, easing monetary policy, so the country managed to maintain investment activity at the pre-crisis level and create a serious basis for the subsequent recovery from the global economic crisis. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

Claim Extraction and Dynamic Stance Detection in COVID-19 Tweets

The information ecosystem today is noisy, and rife with messages that contain a mix of objective claims and subjective remarks or reactions. Any automated system that intends to capture the social, cultural, or political zeitgeist, must be able to analyze the claims as well as the remarks. Due to the deluge of such messages on social media, and their tremendous power to shape our perceptions, there has never been a greater need to automate these analyses, which play a pivotal role in fact-checking, opinion mining, understanding opinion trends, and other such downstream tasks of social consequence. In this noisy ecosystem, not all claims are worth checking for veracity. Such a check-worthy claim, moreover, must be accurately distilled from subjective remarks surrounding it. Finally, and especially for understanding opinion trends, it is important to understand the stance of the remarks or reactions towards that specific claim. To this end, we introduce a COVID-19 Twitter dataset, and present a three-stage process to (i) determine whether a given Tweet is indeed check-worthy, and if so, (ii) which portion of the Tweet ought to be checked for veracity, and finally, (iii) determine the author's stance towards the claim in that Tweet, thus introducing the novel task of topic-agnostic stance detection. © 2023 ACM.

Reflections of the Covid-19 pandemic on the acquisition costs of agricultural inputs: an empirical investigation using the Total Cost Ownership methodology

The Covid19 disease, resulting from contamination by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, impacted on the economy, especially in the agricultural sector, which has become more susceptible to these impacts through the rise in costs that are not easily perceived. This study aims to analyze the impact on input acquisition costs, caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, in small family farms, from the perspective of the Total Cost Ownership (TCO) methodology. The methodology used in this research was a case study in 12 family farms, located in the southern region of Brazil, with data collected from April 2017 to March 2020. Four inputs common to all properties were analyzed. The results showed that there was an increase of 39.47% in the acquisition costs of inputs and a weighted average increase of 34.7%, which had a negative impact on the monetary result of family properties. It was concluded that the properties were affected by the effects of the pandemic with regard to the purchase of inputs, mainly with an increase in acquisition costs, due to the shortage of essential supplies for the basic operations of small rural properties. © Este é um artigo publicado em acesso aberto (Open Access) sob a licença Creative Commons Attribution, que permite uso, distribuição e reprodução em qualquer meio, sem restrições desde que o trabalho original seja corretamente citado.

Introduction to Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation

Since the first edition of the handbook, important new research findings on climate change have been gathered. The evidence has further solidified, and the effects have become more visible. Both mitigation and adaptation of climate change are more important than ever before. The handbook in its presently third edition was completely updated and extended in coverage. Climate change is a fact, and aspects of "doing business in climate change” were included alongside scientific evidence on climate change, mitigation technologies – both established and novel – and adaptation measures to provide maximum benefit to its readers. The impacts of climate change have made it into our daily lives. All human beings, in turn, can contribute to the mitigation and adaptation of climate change. Consequently, these topics are discussed in schools, in private settings, in research, and in the business world. We can see solid implications of climate change. The 2020 COVID-19 crisis has paralyzed the entire world almost instantly. Climate change is slower and subtler, but even more severe in its potential and factual consequences, where no "fix” like a vaccination exists to return to the previous state. This handbook is more necessary than ever before. Over the last several million years, there have been warmer and colder periods on Earth, and the climate fluctuates for a variety of natural reasons, as data from tree rings, pollen, and ice core samples have shown. However, human activities on Earth have reached an extent that they impact the globe in potentially catastrophic ways, in terms of magnitude and irreversibility. Mitigation and adaptation are the two principal routes of our responses to climate change, and they, in fact, can be best achieved collectively by world citizens, scientists and nonscientists, in our daily lives. This chapter is an introduction to climate change and the handbook in its third edition. Current state of the arts of climate change mitigation and adaptation approaches are discussed. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022. All rights are reserved.

Investigating how students' learning environment, social and physical well-being influence their resilience and feelings of depression and loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands

In response to COVID-19 pandemic-related social restrictions, university students have reported being more depressed, lonelier, and less resilient, potentially affected by changes within the academic system. The present study investigates how students' social and physical well-being affect their psychological well-being and additionally explores the role of the learning environment. To this end, we analyzed secondary data collected during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic with multiple regression and explorative analysis. Results indicate that social resources - in particular, the quality rather than the quantity - positively influenced students' psychological well-being. Engaging in physical exercise appeared beneficial, whereas consuming drugs remained a contradictory predictor. Emergency remote teaching appeared a main factor that predicted students' well-being. This powerful effect masked the positive influence the teachers could have had. Given the profound changes in the academic system due to persistent social distancing requirements, these insights could provide valuable input when designing a healthy post-pandemic learning environment.

Global analysis of lysine acetylation in the brain cortex of K18-hACE2 mice infected with SARS-CoV-2.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has infected hundreds of millions of people all over the world and thus threatens human life. Clinical evidence shows that SARS-CoV-2 infection can cause several neurological consequences, but the existing antiviral drugs and vaccines have failed to stop its spread. Therefore, an understanding of the response to SARS-CoV-2 infection of hosts is vital to find a resultful therapy. Here, we employed a K18-hACE2 mouse infection model and LC-MS/MS to systematically evaluate the acetylomes of brain cortexes in the presence and absence of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Using a label-free strategy, 3829 lysine acetylation (Kac) sites in 1735 histone and nonhistone proteins were identified. Bioinformatics analyses indicated that SARS-CoV-2 infection might lead to neurological consequences via acetylation or deacetylation of important proteins. According to a previous study, we found 26 SARS-CoV-2 proteins interacted with 61 differentially expressed acetylated proteins with high confidence and identified one acetylated SARS-CoV-2 protein nucleocapsid phosphoprotein. We greatly expanded the known set of acetylated proteins and provide the first report of the brain cortex acetylome in this model and thus a theoretical basis for future research on the pathological mechanisms and therapies of neurological consequences after SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Experiences of Sign Language Interpreters and Perspectives of Interpreting Administrators During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Description.

OBJECTIVE: Interpreting during the COVID-19 pandemic caused stress and adverse mental health among sign language interpreters. The objective of this study was to summarize the pandemic-related work experiences of sign language interpreters and interpreting administrators upon transitioning from on-site to remote work. METHODS: From March through August 2021, we conducted focus groups with 22 sign language interpreters in 5 settings, 1 focus group for each setting: staff, educational, community/freelance, video remote interpreting, and video relay services. We also conducted 5 individual interviews with interpreting administrators or individuals in positions of administrative leadership in each represented setting. The 22 interpreters had a mean (SD) age of 43.4 (9.8) years, 18 were female, 17 were White, all identified as hearing, and all worked a mean (SD) of 30.6 (11.6) hours per week in remote interpreting. We asked participants about the positive and negative consequences of transitioning from on-site to remote at-home interpreting. We established a thematic framework by way of qualitative description for data analysis. RESULTS: We found considerable overlap across positive and negative consequences identified by interpreters and interpreting administrators. Positive consequences of transitioning from on-site to remote-at-home interpreting were realized across 5 overarching topic areas: organizational support, new opportunities, well-being, connections/relationships, and scheduling. Negative consequences emerged across 4 overarching topic areas: technology, financial aspects, availability of the interpreter workforce, and concerns about the occupational health of interpreters. CONCLUSIONS: The positive and negative consequences shared by interpreters and interpreting administrators provide foundational knowledge upon which to create recommendations for the anticipated sustainment of some remote interpreting practice in a manner that protects and promotes occupational health.

[Liver disease during the pandemic of COVID-19 infection: prediction of the course and tactics of management: A review].

The hepatic consequences of SARS-CoV-2 infection are now recognized as an important component of CoronaVIrus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). This aspect is most clinically relevant in patients with pre-existing chronic liver disease (CKD), who are at extremely high risk of severe COVID-19 and death. Risk factors for severe CKD, especially in people with liver cirrhosis and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, are the direct and indirect cytotoxic effects of coronavirus against the background of systemic inflammation, blood clotting disorders and immune dysfunction. The severe negative impact of the pandemic in the presence of CKD and the difficulties of patient relationships contribute to the progressive increase in the global burden of liver disease on the health system.

Unintended consequences of implementing non-pharmaceutical interventions for the COVID-19 response in Africa: experiences from DRC, Nigeria, Senegal, and Uganda.

INTRODUCTION: The coronavirus (COVID 19) pandemic is one of the most terrifying disasters of the twenty-first century. The non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) implemented to control the spread of the disease had numerous positive consequences. However, there were also unintended consequences-positively or negatively related to the nature of the interventions, the target, the level and duration of implementation. This article describes the unintended economic, Psychosocial and environmental consequences of NPIs in four African countries. METHODS: We conducted a mixed-methods study in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Nigeria, Senegal and Uganda. A comprehensive conceptual framework, supported by a clear theory of change was adopted to encompass both systemic and non-systemic interventions. The data collection approaches included: (i) review of literature; (ii) analysis of secondary data for selected indicators; and (ii) key informant interviews with policy makers, civil society, local leaders, and law enforcement staff. The results were synthesized around thematic areas. RESULTS: Over the first six to nine months of the pandemic, NPIs especially lockdowns, travel restrictions, curfews, school closures, and prohibition of mass gathering resulted into both positive and negative unintended consequences cutting across economic, psychological, and environmental platforms. DRC, Nigeria, and Uganda observed reduced crime rates and road traffic accidents, while Uganda also reported reduced air pollution. In addition, hygiene practices have improved through health promotion measures that have been promoted for the response to the pandemic. All countries experienced economic slowdown, job losses heavily impacting women and poor households, increased sexual and gender-based violence, teenage pregnancies, and early marriages, increased poor mental health conditions, increased waste generation with poor disposal, among others. CONCLUSION: Despite achieving pandemic control, the stringent NPIs had several negative and few positive unintended consequences. Governments need to balance the negative and positive consequences of NPIs by anticipating and instituting measures that will support and protect vulnerable groups especially the poor, the elderly, women, and children. Noticeable efforts, including measures to avoid forced into marriage, increasing inequities, economic support to urban poor; those living with disabilities, migrant workers, and refugees, had been conducted to mitigate the negative effects of the NIPs.

The Mediating Role of Depression in the Relationship Between News Consumption and Interparty Hostility During Covid-19

This article examines the association between different kinds of news consumption and interparty hostility and how this relationship is mediated by individuals' levels of depression during the Covid-19 pandemic. In a study conducted in the United States, we found a significant correlation between consumption of news and feelings of depression that was mediated by political ideology: Conservatives who consume news from CNN, MSNBC, national network TV news, and social media reported higher levels of depressive symptoms than did Liberals. Depressive symptoms, in turn, were associated with increased hatred and intolerance toward ordinary members of a political out-group. We show that depression, catalyzed by news consumption, is a fundamental factor that could explain the implications of the Covid-19 pandemic for levels of animosity among ideological groups.

Informational Justice, Organizational Communication, and Job Insecurity in the Early Stages of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic were a time of great job insecurity. Knowledge of how such feelings of insecurity were mitigated during a time of crisis has important implications for the development of future interventions. Drawing from uncertainty management theory (UMT), we explored the impact of informational justice perceptions on the effects of job insecurity in a sample collected during the early stages of the pandemic (March-May 2020). The findings indicated that informational justice buffered the impacts of job insecurity on employee life satisfaction and perceived ability to perform. Furthermore, the source of information regarding COVID-19-related job changes mattered for predicting informational justice perceptions. Our findings bolster UMT and have important practical implications for future times of crisis.

Impact of financial behaviour on financial well-being: evidence among young adults in Malaysia

The high cost of living and prolonged lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic made the financial well-being of individuals vulnerable, especially young adults. This paper examines the impact of financial behaviour on financial well-being (FWB) among young Malaysians during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study collected variable data on financial literacy, financial behaviour, financial socialisation, self-control, financial technology and FWB. To collect a representative sample of Malaysian young adults, a multi-stage random sampling method was used, and 360 young adults aged 18-29 years old completed the questionnaires. Structural equation modelling was adopted to investigate the factors influencing young adults' FWB. The empirical findings revealed a significant mediating effect of financial behaviour in the relationships between financial literacy, financial socialisation, self-control, financial technology, and FWB. The research concluded that the mediation analysis yields a clear and firm conclusion that financial behaviour is important in empowering young adults' FWB. Thus, the present study adds value to the existing literature on the relationship between financial behaviour and FWB. Furthermore, the paper's findings will assist government agencies and non-governmental organisations in developing outreach programmes for young adults per the strategies outlined in the Twelfth Malaysia Plan and the aspirations pledged in the Malaysian Youth Policy 2015-2035.

The Impact of COVID-19, Election Policies, and Partisanship on Voter Participation in the 2020 U.S. Election

The COVID-19 pandemic had the potential to wreak havoc on elections. Democracies initiated varied policies to minimize health risks to voters and election workers. This study assesses the impact of voting policies, personal exposure to COVID, and partisanship on voter behavior in the 2020 U.S. general election. Using a comparative state-politics approach and new data, we demonstrate that exposure to COVID substantially influenced voter turnout, and election policies had a major effect on whether a voter cast a ballot by mail, early in-person, or in-person on Election Day. Unique circumstances, including the emergence of voting policies as a polarizing issue, also spawned a new partisan voting gap that is especially prominent among heavy news consumers. Compared to 2018, many more Democrats than Republicans abandoned Election Day voting in favor of mail voting.

The impact of student self-disclosure on the stress and wellbeing of tertiary educators during the COVID-19 pandemic

Workplace stress, burnout, and fatigue are commonplace amongst tertiary educators, and are compounded by the ongoing challenges of teaching and learning during a global pandemic. Amid efforts to identify and understand contributors to educator stress, student-teacher interactions have received relatively little attention. However, educators are often expected to engage in pastoral care when students disclose academic and personal problems. Receiving and responding to self-disclosure can be emotionally taxing, particularly in professional contexts of care, and therefore contribute to educator experiences of stress and burnout. In this study, we examined the relations between student self-disclosure and educator stress and wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand. Almost all of the 318 tertiary educators received COVID-19 related disclosures from students. Findings show that educators whose students had shared personal problems during COVID-19 were more likely to report high stress and poor wellbeing.Such communication was also associated with higher rates of workplace presenteeism, suggesting that these teachers were likely to push themselves to a level that risks illness. Fortunately, these negative impacts were ameliorated when educators also reported a sense of support in the workplace. The implications for educators and tertiary institutions are discussed, including the provision of educator training and well-resourced student support services.

Nurturing Employee Engagement at Workplace and Organizational Innovation in Time of Crisis With Moderating Effect of Servant Leadership

The current study strives to examine the impact of HR practices, working condition, intergroup relations, goal congruence, passion for work and organizational learning culture toward employee engagement and organizational innovation. In addition to that the moderating effect of servant leadership is tested between employee engagement and organizational innovation. The research design of this study is grounded in quantitative research approach. Data were retrieved from employees working in Saudi manufacturing organizations. Overall, 241 respondents have participated in this voluntarily research survey. Research framework was tested with structural equation modeling technique. Results revealed that human resource prac-tices, working condition, intergroup relations, passion for work, goal congruence and organizational learning culture have explained large variance R-2 52.8% in measuring employee work engagement. Similarly, organizational innovation is measured with employee work engagement and servant leadership and explained substantial 55% variance in organizational innovation. Likewise, the results of the blindfolding analysis revealed substantial predictive power Q(2) 41.4 to predict organizational inno-vation. Therefore, in determining employee work engagement at workplace goal congruence has shown substantial effect size f(2) when compared with other exogenous constructs. Practically, this research suggests that goal congruence, human resource practices, and servant leadership are core factors which enhance employee engagement at workplace and organiza-tional innovation in time of crisis and therefore need managerial attention. This study is unique as it examines employee engagement behavior with an integrative research framework. In addition to that the role of servant leadership has been studied as moderator between the relationship of employee engagement and organizational innovation.

Working Only for the Weekend? How Workplace Social Connections Impact Workers' Sense of Mattering and Mental Health

The growing field of mattering has established that a sense that we matter is crucial to well-being and that it is informed by interactions with close others. However, few studies investigate how mattering may be shaped by our work relationships. Since many adults spend much of their time performing paid work, addressing this research gap may provide insights for enhancing employee well-being. This study uses data from the 2021 Baylor Religion Survey, collected during the early months of 2021, and a sample of employed U.S. adults (n = 564) to test how a worker's perceived respect from their employer and their closeness to coworkers relate to their general sense of mattering, as well as whether mattering may act as a mediator between work relationships and psychological distress (assessed as symptoms of depression and anxiety). Results indicate that feeling highly respected by one's employer and one's perceived closeness to coworkers are positively linked with mattering among workers. Additional analyses also imply that mattering mediates a portion of the relationship between workplace relations and psychological distress. In total, this study suggests that further research into work relationships and mattering is warranted, especially since both factors seem tied to workers' mental health.

The Improving Role of Digital Leadership in the Impact of Social Loafing on Job Performance

It is possible to define digital leadership as a type of leadership that is informed about digital technologies that help the digital transformation of employees and businesses and is also fed by modern leadership theories. The concept of digital leadership has come to the fore, particularly with Industry 4.0. Digital leadership is seen as an element that positively affects organizational culture and helps the development of the organization. Following the Covid-19 pandemic, businesses have experienced a considerable digital transformation, and it has been realized that digital leadership is now inevitable for businesses. Digital transformation is expected to contribute to the productivity and production of enterprises. The present study focused on the ability of digital leadership to avoid social loafing, which is negative organizational behavior. In particular, the extent to which job performance losses caused by social loafing were moderated by digital leadership was measured. In this regard, questionnaire forms were prepared and sent to 308 people. The collected data were interpreted by means of the Smart PLS program, and the results were obtained. In this respect, it is found that digital leadership has a moderating impact on the effect of social loafing on job performance. It is thought that the source of this effect could be explained in accordance with Social Impact Theory, Upper Echelon Theory, and Strategic Action Area Theory. (c) CIKD Publishing

Modern pandemic crises and R&D investment

This study investigates the impact of crises caused by pandemics on firms' R&D investments. We explore these associations by utilizing a comprehensive cross-country sample of 261,959 firm-year observations collected from 39 countries during five modern health crises (SARS in 2003, H1N1 in 2009, MERS in 2012, Ebola in 2012, and Zika in 2016). The results indicate that pandemics have a positive and significant impact on R&D investment. Furthermore, we show that private firms in civil-law countries were more likely to adopt conservative financial policies than those in common-law countries. We conclude that the difference between the legal origins of private firms influences the impact on R&D investment. Moreover, it promotes conservative policies to reduce private firms' R&D investment in countries with civil law.

VIII International American Studies Congress "200th Anniversary of Latin America - Globalization, Political and Social Processes during the Pandemic"

From August 22 to 26, 2022, the VIII International Congress of American Studies was held in Rio de Janeiro. This congress focused on the most pressing issues in the contemporary Latin American agenda - globalization and regionalization, economic development, impact of the covid-19 pandemic on social, political, economic, and demographic processes. As a part of the congress, the round table "Migration, Migrants, Migration Policy in the Era of the covid-19: Trends, Consequences, Conclusions" was held. Not only Latin-American researchers, but also scientists from the leading Russian, European, Asian universities and research institutes participated in the round table. They discussed transformations of the international migration and migration policy under the pandemic, ways to ensure the rights of migrants and refugees, state policy measures aimed at restoring internal and international mobility, interstate cooperation and the role of international institutions in ensuring safe, ordered and legal migration.

Consequences of Corona Pandemic in Jordanian Society: an Analytical Social Study

The study aimed at identifying the social, economic, health, and psychological consequences of Corona pandemic in Jordanian society, and identifying the predictive value of demographic, social, and economic variables in explaining the different repercussions of Corona pandemic on the members of Jordanian society. In order to achieve the objectives of the study, a data collection scale was designed. The sample consisted of 2570 respondents chosen randomly. The study was based on the social survey methodology. The study revealed the depth of consequences left by the pandemic on Jordanian society. They all have high averages and they are arranged in a row from the highest: Economic followed by psychological, health, and social. The study also revealed that there is a statistical effect of demographic variables on all aspects of life. This indicates the obvious impact of the independent variables included in the (regression equation) on all aspects of life: social, economic, health, and psychological life during the Corona pandemic. © 2023 DSR Publishers/ The University of Jordan.